


Doubles

by Lieju



Category: Gaston (Bande Dessinée), Spirou et Fantasio
Genre: Gen, halloween fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-30
Updated: 2016-09-30
Packaged: 2018-08-18 17:51:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8170549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lieju/pseuds/Lieju
Summary: Fantasio wasn't sure what was going on, but he was planning to get to the bottom of it. For starters, he'd complain to Prunelle about the weird things they had written about him and Spirou in the magazine.





	

Fantasio set the magazine carrying his best friend's name down. "Huh, how do they come up with this stuff?"

 

Said friend looked up from his breakfast. "Hmm?"

 

Fantasio pointed at the magazine. "Have you read it?"

 

Spirou shook his head. "I figured years ago it was best for my sanity and peace of mind to simply ignore what they write about us."

 

"Hmph," Fantasio grumbled. "Still, this almost constitutes slander. As if you'd ever... And with Seccotine! In a freezing cave!"

 

"Well, now I'm curious."

 

"It's not worth your time. But I think I'll need to complain about this."

 

* * *

 

 

"Prunelle!"

 

The Editor-in-chief frowned. "Fantasio? Aren't you supposed to be-"

An odd look flashed on his expressive face. "Wait, it's, hm, never mind. But you could knock before barging into my office."

 

Fantasio ignored it and the offending issue of the magazine was thrown on the desk. "Have you seen this?"

 

"I'm assuming that was a rhetorical question."

 

"You _approved_ of this?"

 

"Ah." Prunelle ran his hand through his graying hair. "Well, you know how it is, in your line of work, some stories that do get through can be a bit..."

 

"And the one with clones? Or robots, or I don't even know... Who exactly comes up with this stuff? I want to talk to them!"

 

"Hm, just ignore it. I never read the comics where I starred. Just take it as part of the job."

 

Fantasio sighed. Maybe he was over-reacting. "You don't? Read your old adventures even now? Don't you miss it?"

 

"Hmh, sometimes maybe? Although they were hardly 'adventures' compared to your line of work. But in any case I moved on, Gaston got another job, and running the magazine is keeping me busy these days. Fantasio."

 

"What?"

 

"Have you thought of visiting Champignac? Getting some fresh air? Maybe visiting that Count-friend of yours, to see what he is up to?"

 

A smile tugged at Fantasio's mouth. "You're trying to push me towards another adventure, aren't you?"

But it had been a while...

Prunelle gave an apologetic smile. "Guilty as charged. But, you know, it wouldn't hurt..."

Fantasio poked the magazine on the desk. "Otherwise, you're just going to make stuff up, hm?"

 

Prunelle stood up, indicating he was more than ready for the reporter to leave. "We have to make do with what we got, yes."

 

And Fantasio was practically pushed out of the office. He stepped out, and stopped. "Spirou?"

 

The bellhop, although not currently wearing his uniform, turned to look at him. "Yes?"

 

"So, you came over after all?" Fantasio asked, wondering why he hadn't come with him.

 

Spirou nodded, looking confused.

"So, you're going to need a lift back home or..?" Fantasio asked.

 

"Spirou?" Prunelle stepped out of his office. He glanced at Fantasio and for a moment he thought there was a look of horror on the editor's face.

 

"I need to talk to you," the editor told Spirou, and he was almost pulled into the office.

 

Fantasio planned to wait for his friend, but eventually he knocked on the door, and the editor poked his head out. "What?"

 

The blond did his best to see into the office but found his view efficiently blocked. "Will it take long? I was planning to get going..."

 

"It will, we have to go through several documents, legal jargon, that kind of thing," Prunelle told him. "You should probably leave."

And the door was slammed to Fantasio's face.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Fantasio stepped into their shared apartment, and stopped to stare. "Spirou?"

 

"Yes?" The younger man looked up from the newspaper.

 

Fantasio set down the bag of groceries. "You're here."

So, it hadn't taken that long after all, if he had gotten home first in the time it took Fantasio to take the trip to the corner shop for some food.

 

"Where else?"

 

"So, what did he want?" As the younger man looked confused, Fantasio specified, "Prunelle."

 

"What? When?"

 

Fantasio frowned, but didn't insist. If Spirou preferred not to talk about it...

 

But it was a bit weird...

And the thought that there was something horribly wrong didn't leave him alone.

When the night came he was tormented by nightmares of endless dark hallways, odd rooms...

 

He stumbled forward in the darkness, trying to- to do what? He wasn't sure.

But there was certainty that something was wrong with Spirou.

But what?

He didn't know.

When he woke up in the small hours in the morning he still had that feeling of unease.

 

So he sneaked to Spirou's bedroom, opening the door, careful not to wake him up.

 

Fantasio stared at the sleeping figure, starting to feel foolish.

Of course, nothing was wrong.

But for a moment there he had felt odd certainty that this was not Spirou...

 

* * *

 

 

Even after two days Fantasio couldn't shrug off the weird feeling and so without telling Spirou, he took another trip to the offices. It was oddly nostalgic, being back here.

Yes, _oddly_ nostalgic. He could remember working here, but the exact memories seemed to elude him. Maybe he was getting old? He frowned. Had it even been this building or the older one-

Then he spotted the familiar bellhop uniform stepping into the offices.

Spirou.

And this time he knew it couldn't be him, there was no way he could have arrived there before him.

The red uniform disappeared somewhere into the crowd, and Fantasio lost him.

But he would get some answers.

 

* * *

 

 

He stumbled out of the thing, and was suddenly freezing and gasping for air.

Where was he?

He tried to recall a name. Fantasio. That seemed familiar.

But what was this place?

He took a shaky step, and the floor felt cold under his bare feet.

Suddenly he was blinded by a bright light, and blinking, just barely saw a human figure standing at the door of this odd laboratory-like place.

An oddly familiar figure.

"What are you doing outside? You're not supposed to, not yet-"

And Fantasio recognized him.

His last thought before he fainted was that something horrible was about to happen.

If this man was here, it was only a matter of time.

* * *

 

 

"Rogntudjuu!" Prunelle frowned at the blond reporter. "You never knock, do you?"

 

"Why? What could you be up to that I shouldn't see?" Fantasio demanded to know, suddenly suspicious. And what was he trying to hide in his desk-drawer?

Before the editor could respond, Fantasio dashed across the room and reached over his desk.

"Oh." He stared at the packet of cigarettes, and the drawer was slammed shut.

 

"I might occasionally have a smoke in my office," Prunelle admitted. "I know it's not acceptable these days but sometimes, _very rarely,_ I just need to."

 

"Oh, okay."

 

"What? What did you think I was hiding?" Prunelle asked.

 

The knock on the door saved Fantasio from answering.

 

The door opened and a youth clothed in the familiar red bellhop uniform stepped in.

Fantasio stared at the redhead who seemed astonished seeing him. "Mister Fantasio?"

 

He reached to shake his hand. "I'm a huge fan, Sir!"

 

"This is René, one of our interns," Prunelle gestured towards the young man.

 

"The uniform?" Fantasio managed to ask. René had the same kind of build and hair-colour Spirou did, but now that he had a good look at him it was obvious this was a different person.

 

"Oh, it's a marketing campaign," René explained. A horrified expression spread on his face. "Hopefully you're not offended or anything!"

 

"No, no," Fantasio assured him, feeling more than little bit foolish.

 

The boy turned to the editor to give him a file. "Here are the reports you needed, Mister Prunelle."

 

After one last admiring look at the reporter he stepped out out of the room, leaving Fantasio and Prunelle alone.

 

It was Prunelle who broke the awkward silence. He stepped to Fantasio and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Have you thought of taking some time off? Maybe taking that trip to visit your friends?"

 

Fantasio nodded. "Maybe that's a good idea."

* * *

 

 

Prunelle watched Fantasio leave, and sighed. Well, this was a catastrophe averted.

 

Well, he had gotten rid of him, and not a moment too soon, as the inconspicuous door disguised as a filing cabinet at the corner of his office opened, and Gaston decided to take this exact moment to step into the room, looking almost like a proper scientist in his lab coat. He tapped his clipboard. "So, one of the Fantasios sorta woke up too soon and stumbled out of the lab. Got it back now though."

 

"Rogntudjuu, Gaston, we can't afford any mistakes like that. He almost found out."

 

"Mmhuh?"

 

"One of the Fantasios. He came across a Spirou different from his and almost figured it out."

 

"Well, that's your fault," Gaston pointed out. "Once they're out of the lab that's all your responsibility. Deal with the schedules and timetables and whatnot."

 

"Hmh, maybe we should put this project on hold for a moment..." Prunelle mumbled. "We might have let slightly too many of them loose, it's getting more and more difficult to keep them unaware of one another. Although, without having to rely on just one pair we have been able to get much more adventures published. But maybe we should not release any more into the wild for now..."

 

"Phuh, just ship them to Japan or Cuba or something, where they won't ever meet the others," Gaston suggested. "Or... There is this another thing I've been working on."

 

Upon seeing the look on the editor's face he hurried to say: "You approved of this project a while back. Remember the Marsupilami? I finally figured out how to get the cloning process to work with it."

 

"That _is_ good news. Well done." Prunelle looked thoughtful. "Yes, we can do a series of albums with those..."

 

"A whole family?" Gaston suggested. "So cute and cuddly!"

 

Prunelle nodded. "And very marketable. Yes, we'll go with that. Maybe we can even give one back to our main Spirou and Fantasio-team."

 

"Oh, and I have this other great idea! What if we cloned me? No, don't make that face, I'm talking about a child-clone. Think about it, a kid version of me, being cute-"

 

"No."

 

"Phuh, why not? Worked with Spirou, didn't it?"

 

Prunelle nodded. "Yes... Although I'm fairly sure you messed up something in the process. I find it difficult to believe he is a perfect copy of what the original Spirou was as a kid."

 

"It would work out fine."

 

Prunelle shrugged. "Maybe later. If we completely run out of ideas."

 


End file.
